Pensacola City Council Passes Domestic Partner Registry!

Yesterday, in an 8-1 vote, the Pensacola City Council passed a Domestic Partner Registry (DPR) that will provide important legal protections for unmarried couples.

Couples, students, retirees and straight allies all stood in support of the registry and packed Pensacola City Hall to tell their stories about why a registry is important for their families. In his remarks, Councilman Johnson, who sponsored the ordinance, told the crowd that improving the lives of people in his community by voting in favor of the DPR was why he ran for office.

From Pensacola to Key West, communities across Florida are understanding the importance of providing basic legal protections to unmarried couples. Pensacola now joins over a dozen other communities in Florida who have domestic partner registries.

A DPR is a simple legal tool that provides access to a handful of essential family protections including hospital visitation, emergency services, and the ability to make funeral arrangements. More and more places are learning the benefits of offering domestic partnerships, recognizing that domestic partner registries are the best way for local governments to create the strongest protections for unmarried couples.

After the date the ordinance goes into effect, the city has 90 days to get the registry up and running. This means couples will be able to register, by the latest, March 2014.

Thanks again to Sara Latshaw from the ACLU of Florida, Equality Florida Steering Committee Member Mary Meeks, and all of the members of the Pensacola Alliance for Equality for the tremendous work they have done for the registry.